The present disclosure generally relates to positional tracking, and specifically relates to positional tracking using light beams that have a constant or substantially constant apparent frequency throughout a local area.
Positional tracking is crucial in virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) systems because an accurate representation of physical objects such as hands and heads in a virtual world contribute towards achieving immersion and a greater sense or presence. Another reason is that positional tracking improves the 3D perception of a virtual environment if physical motion is accurately reflected in a virtual world.
Positional tracking allows a user's movement and gesture to be detected and tracked over time. As such, the user's viewpoint can possibly change according to the user's position, orientation, and motion. An exact representation of the user's hands and other objects is possible in a virtual environment. A user can touch and move a virtual object by hand gesture thereby to connect the physical and virtual worlds.
Inside-out tracking traces scene coordinates of moving objects such as head-mounted displays or motion controller peripherals in real time. An inside-out tracking process uses one or more cameras or other sensors that are placed on a tracked object. The tracked object can move freely around a designated area defined by the intersecting visual ranges of the base stations. However, systems that use inside-out tracking have limited field of view.